The Art of Kunoichi
by Caramel Life
Summary: Falling in love with guys isn't the only thing Female!Naruto can do. She's learning the fine art of being a kunoichi, and how to use it. AU.
1. Prologue: Things Change

**The Art of Kunoichi**

**Summary:** Falling in love with guys isn't the only thing Female!Naruto can do. She's learning the fine art of being a kunoichi.

**/ Prologue /**

Things change.

Every little thing, every decision and action - or lack thereof - has an impact in our lives. Scholars have studied it for ages - the ripple effect, they call it; the butterfly effect, others say, but they all mean the same thing.

One action can change the universe; a single doing can create an infinite number of changes to the path people would have traveled on. The slightest difference - maybe a certain day having a different temperature, for example - can dictate the circumstances of a child's birth.

Looking at it from a different angle, a closer, narrower one, the type of food an expecting mother eats can change the gender of her unborn child. This, of course, will create its own consequences - its own changes, its own ripples…

_It was a cool day._

_Uzumaki Kushina was looking out the window, observing Konoha and its happenings. This window was, of course, open, which is how she knew it was a cool day. The wind was breezy, and leaves were flying around._

_The leaves were a beautiful bright green, reminding her of spinach. Ooh, spinach… That sounded delicious. She jumped out the window - she hoped nobody had seen, or Minato would be on her case again (honestly, she was too early on for that to have hurt the baby, really, and of course she was enforcing her stomach with extra chakra to protect him/her)._

_She made her way to the village market, where she knew a vendor would be able to sell her so-craved spinach - mmm, maybe she'd have it in a pastry - or maybe just steamed with rice…_

It was a hot day.

Uzumaki Kushina was looking out the window, observing Konoha and its happenings. This window was, of course, open, which is how she knew it was a hot day. The wind was alternating between hot and nonexistent, but she loved the sun. It was golden, like Minato's hair… and pineapples.

Ooh, pineapple… That sounded delicious, juicy, cool... She thought about jumping out the window, but decided it was too hot to do something like that. Besides, maybe she could pick up a glass of icy-cool water before she left the house.

She made her way to the village market, where she knew a vendor would be able to sell her so-craved pineapple - mmm, maybe she'd make it into juice to drink, or maybe she'd just eat it as it was…

_The door opened, and Kushina paused in her dinner. Only one person walked like that -_

_"Minato-kun!" Kushina grinned, "You're just in time for dinner! Ne, come have some of this spinach!"_

_Minato chuckled, "Of course, Kushina-chan. But, first…" He gently took a paper napkin from the table and wiped his wife's mouth, "You have spinach on your mouth."_

The door opened, and Kushina paused in her dinner. Only one person walked like that -

"Minato-kun!" Kushina grinned, "You're just in time for dinner! Ne, come have some of this fish teriyaki! I made it with pineapple!"

Minato chuckled, "Of course, Kushina-chan. It smells great… But, first…" He placed his hand on his wife's cheek gently, stroking her with the pad of his thumb. "But first," he said huskily, "You have some pineapple sauce on you…"

"O-oh?" Kushina whispered, "Where?"

Minato smiled, "Right here," before marking the spot with his lips.

_It was a cool day._

_Koku smiled; this was her favorite kind of day. The windows in Konoha Orphanage were all open, and she could feel the wind coming in, almost refreshing the place, refreshing her soul._

_"OH! Koku-chan! Please help me with this, the wind blew all Kamiko-nee's paperwork away!" The wail came from one of Koku's closest friends, Minoru. Koku chuckled. "I'm coming!"_

It was a hot day.

Koku groaned; it was so warm. There was no wind - anyway, what little there was of it was hot. That meant, to Koku, that it was no good.

"Koku-chaaaan," Minoru, one of Koku's closest friends, wailed. "It's so hot, I hate it!" Koku sighed; one of the worst things she could have on her hands was a whining Minoru, especially when Onee-chan was busy doing paperwork.

"Maa, fine, Minoru-kun. We can go to my room; Kamiko-nee lent me her fan the other day. Come on!"

_"Cat, you may begin your report."_

_"Yes, Hokage-sama. The orphanage seems acceptable. The rooms provided for the children are well-furnished, and each child has one roommate of the same gender. The children are given three meals a day as well as a snack in between lunch and dinner._

_Each meal has rice or noodles, as well as some kind of vegetable, though breakfast sometimes replaces this with soup. Lunch and dinner have one kind of meat each._

_The children mostly spend their time outside the orphanage. The staff checks for each child in the morning during breakfast, and in the evening during dinner. The matron seems to be a kind woman, and on holidays gives the children toys or sweets._

_Among the children themselves, many are close friends. There is a tendency for them to have someone older to look up to as an older brother or older sister, with the older ones looking up to the matron and the orphanage staff as mothers._

_All in all, it seems to be a good orphanage."_

_"But?"_

_Yuugao sighed. "Hokage-sama, what I say now I have no evidence for, but my own instinct and thoughts. Koku-san, the matron, had a husband whom she lost to the Kyuubi attack. I've spoken to some of her older acquaintances, and Koku-san is known to those who know her as a person who does not let go of grudges easily._

_She is not said to be cruel, but I feel she may have some prejudice against him, which may leak out onto her staff and the older children, who in turn…"_

_"- May ruin Uzumaki Naruto's chances of making friends among his peers. I understand," sighed the Sandaime. "You are dismissed; thank you, Cat." The ANBU-masked ninja bowed before leaving the Hokage's Office._

_Sarutobi Hiruzen bowed his head. 'I am sorry, Naruto… But the Konoha Orphanage is the ideal place for you to stay. I can assure you will not be beaten, at least… I am sorry; I cannot do anymore in this situation. Forgive me, Minato."_

"Cat, you may begin your report."

"Yes, Hokage-sama. The orphanage seems acceptable. The rooms provided for the children are well-furnished, and each child has one roommate of the same gender. The children are given three meals a day as well as a snack in between lunch and dinner.

Each meal has rice or noodles, as well as some kind of vegetable, though breakfast sometimes replaces this with soup. Lunch and dinner have one kind of meat each.

The children mostly spend their time outside the orphanage. The staff checks for each child in the morning during breakfast, and in the evening during dinner. The matron seems to be a kind woman, and on holidays gives the children toys or sweets.

Among the children themselves, many are close friends. There is a tendency for them to have someone older to look up to as an older brother or older sister, with the older ones looking up to the matron and the orphanage staff as mothers.

All in all, it seems to be a good orphanage."

"But?"

Yuugao sighed. "Hokage-sama, what I say now I have no evidence for, but my own instinct and thoughts. Koku-san, the matron, had a husband whom she lost to the Kyuubi attack. I've spoken to some of her older acquaintances, and Koku-san is known to those who know her as a person who does not let go of grudges easily.

She is not said to be cruel, but I feel she may have some prejudice against him, which may leak out onto her staff and the older children, who in turn…"

"- May ruin Uzumaki Naruto's chances of making friends among her peers. I understand," sighed the Sandaime. "You are dismissed; thank you, Cat." The ANBU-masked ninja hesitated, glancing at the doorway.

"Hokage-sama - if I may speak freely…" The Sandaime raised his eyebrow, but allowed her request with a nod of his head.

"There was one rumor, from one of Koku-san's former friends. Their friendship apparently ended when the man discovered Koku-san keeps questionably illicit reading material in her bedroom."

"Cat, much of Fire Nation - much of Konoha - keeps such material, due to influence from our Sannin Jiraiya -"

The ANBU - by all means, rule, and accounts his subordinate - interrupted him. "With all due respect, Hokage-sama, this is worse than Jiraiya-sama's preferred form of reading material. This was imported from Kirigakure. The topic of which is young girls."

The Hokage started. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Cat," hastily writing something onto a scroll of paper. "If you could bring this to T&I before you leave? Make sure to tell them it's urgent."

Cat nodded, seemingly satisfied with his reaction. "Hai, Hokage-sama," she bowed respectfully, before leaving the Hokage's Office.

Sarutobi bowed his head, deep in thought. It was clear now that Naruto couldn't stay at the Orphanage - not for awhile, anyway. But then, her circumstance was so unusual - the more he thought about it, the more he realized it would be difficult for the child to find people who would likely not dislike her for something the demon had done.

Thousands had been lost to the Kyuubi, after all. Everyone had lost someone. _He _had lost someone. Not everyone was as open-minded as he was, though, especially the civilians, who were not used to losing loved ones for the cause of letting others live in their place.

Perhaps, perhaps it would be better for Naruto to stay with shinobi. Of course, there was no orphanage solely for shinobi children - it was a shinobi village, with equal chances for all children with strong enough chakra to become ninja.

If Naruto was to grow up with ninja, then it would be a ninja family. A family, not a clan - Sarutobi nodded to himself. A clan might try to harness the girl's power as a jinchuuriki, to use as a weapon, or a defense, or simple bragging rights.

There were enough problems with some of the clans by themselves - the whispers of dissent among the major clan powers, those with seats on the Council.

On the other hand, though, a clan would be able to train and look out for Naruto better, help her control her chakra early on. A family might have problems with such a thing, especially if there were more civilian members than shinobi. Sarutobi had learned over the years that as important civilians were for certain things - oddly enough, he couldn't think of any now - they were annoying.

Many of them were arrogant, for all they were the weak links in a village of capable ninja. They overreached their boundaries and tried to band together to overrule Sarutobi. Civilians were like pests in that manner - one on their own was easy to deal with, but a swarm of them was just ridiculous.

There was also the need to think about how much stronger the protection of a prestigious and prominent clan was when compared to a single family. There were going to be people angry with Naruto, people who needed a scapegoat to blame for their losses and pain after the Kyuubi. It was as illogical as calling a sealing scroll the kunai it had inside of it, but grief and losing someone you loved didn't leave much room for logic. Either way, the girl needed protecting.

Sarutobi reached under his table and took the papers he had taped under his desk. Copies of the village's files on the various clans, for his quick appraisal whenever the situation called for it. Being Hokage had its privileges, especially when said privileges let him skip the tediousness of bureaucratic processes.

The Sandaime flipped through the various papers, thinking. The Uchiha clan was too proud. The Hyuuga clan would put Naruto into the Branch Family, giving her a Cursed Bird Seal, and Minato would hate that.

The Inuzuka might be good for her, but there was the whole 'fox-sealed-into-her-navel' problem that may harm her chances of being accepted in a clan of people with such a close affinity with dogs, one of the foxes' natural enemies.

The Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi clans would all be ideal to taking on the girl. Unfortunately, a contract, signed at the founding of Konoha itself, stated that the three aforementioned clans would each produce one child the same year, together, or they would not produce a child at all. This agreement was tied into their loyalty to Konohagakure as well as to the Hokage.

Of the clans whom Sarutobi deemed capable enough of, at the very least, protecting Minato's daughter from the more narrow-minded population, the only option left was the Aburame clan.

The more he thought about it, though, the better an idea it seemed to the Hokage.

The Aburame - those with enough chakra to do so, anyway - play host to kikaichu, or insects that fed on their chakra. If anyone would be able to accept Naruto for her tenant, it should be them.

Yes, the clan of bug-users should be able to empathize with Minato's daughter. Perhaps she could make some friends during her stay there... Only time would be able to tell.

**AN:** Am I the only one having problems with line breaks?


	2. Chapter One: Ready

**The Art of Kunoichi**

**Summary:** Falling in love with guys isn't the only thing Female!Naruto can do. She's learning the fine art of being a kunoichi.

**/ Chapter One /**

_They were all around her, glaring. They acted like she wouldn't notice, or worse - they didn't care if she did. It was like someone watching an insect go about its business; it was a lesser being, one you could observe without people wondering why you were being nosy._

_The angry looks were almost worse than everyone ignoring her. Almost. At least, with their hatred, they acknowledged her existence, acknowledged that she was alive._

_Suddenly, the people glaring at her disappeared, and she was alone again, in the dark. The only light she could see was a spotlight that shone on her, but everything in all directions was darkness._

_She was alone, again…_

* * *

><p>"Naruto!"<p>

Naruto woke up, breathing heavily, heart pounding. It was just another nightmare…

Yes, a nightmare. She was back in her bedroom at the Aburame Clan compound, with the bright orange walls and matching carpet. She recognized the bright lamp she had begged her Dad for hanging from the ceiling.

The whole of her bedroom was brightly colored, in an effort to keep away the nightmares of darkness - not that it helped much at night. It was always a comforting sight in the morning, though.

And there was her brother, Shino, standing by her bedside and looking rather concerned about her. The average Konohan citizen might have trouble telling the body language of her brother - actually, all the members of her clan - but Naruto had no problem. Besides the fact that she knew him almost as well as she did herself, Shino wasn't wearing his usual coat to hide his face and body.

Members of the Aburame clan usually wore them outside the compound for the other citizens of Konoha, so they wouldn't fear the Aburame for seeing insects crawling in and out of their bodies. When they were in the comfort of their own homes, though, they universally preferred not to wear the coat covering their bodies.

The coats were uncomfortable, and that's without mentioning the feeling of being isolated from the people around you. They couldn't see you smile or frown, and it was harder to communicate with friends and comrades. Nobody would want to wear them, if wearing them wasn't a necessity, but it was.

After all, people fear what they do not understand; and what people fear, they try to eliminate. It's human nature, based on survival instinct to get rid of whatever is different from you. In this case, though, that instinct would only be harmful to the Aburame.

The Aburame held a good position in the village economically due to their production and trade of honey and silk, due to their insects, and they did not wish to jeopardize this standing because of a few narrow-minded civilians. Thus, the practice of wearing coats.

Among themselves, however - their fellow clan members, those who knew the pains they did - the Aburame were very open. It was a tight-knit clan, made all the closer for the distance from the other villagers; and Naruto was one if its members in all but the practice of hosting kikaichu.

"Shino-nii," Naruto greeted her older (only by a few months, though!) brother.

"You were having a nightmare again," Shino observed quietly.

"Ah, it's not that important," Naruto smiled, waving her hand as if clearing away the nightmare, the darkness. "Today's our first day at the Academy, right? We shouldn't be thinking about negative things!"

Shino sighed before turning around to leave the room. "We're leaving in twenty minutes," he informed her. "Mom and Dad want to talk to us before we leave."

"Okay, Shino-nii," Naruto said absentmindedly, already pulling an orange top and a matching pair of pants out of her closet. "I'll see you in the Entrance Hall, then."

Naruto went through her morning ablutions - taking a quick, five-minute shower, getting dressed, brushing her teeth, and fixing her hair. The practice was routine after years of doing the same thing again and again, leaving Naruto time to think of other things.

There were a lot of things going on in Naruto's mind. At the foremost of them, looming like a shadow over all her other thoughts (the less-important ones, like 'The toothpaste is running out, I should ask mom to pick some more up at the store later' and 'My hair is more tangled than it was yesterday; maybe I shouldn't sleep on my back before important days') was how her time at the Academy would be spent.

Naruto had wanted to become a ninja since she was old enough to realize that she wasn't going to stay a child forever and would, in fact, have to go out into the world to do something.

Maybe it was because she was raised by a clan comprised predominantly of ninja, or maybe because she lived in a ninja village. Maybe it was because she was the daughter of two powerful ninja, and they somehow passed the N-gene onto her. Maybe it was because Shino-nii wanted to become a ninja, and she wanted to stay close to him.

Anyway, Naruto wanted to become a ninja. Not just any run-of-the-mill Chunin, though; no, Naruto wanted to be the greatest ninja she knew of - the Hokage.

Her reasoning for this goal was simple. The Hokage was the most powerful ninja in the village. This fact was recognized by every person in the village, regardless of profession or standing. The Hokage was the greatest. End of story.

Naruto wanted to be great. She wanted the strength and the power that came with being the leader of a village full of people. This desire was spurred on by her less-than-friendly treatment from the villagers.

If one person was picked on and hated by those who were supposed to look out for her, then who's to say there weren't other people ostracized within Konoha? Naruto knew the feeling of pain, of being hated for something that wasn't your fault. Because of this, she could empathize with society's outcasts - the weak, the poor, those who were looked down on - and she wanted to stand up for them. She wanted to become Hokage so she could be the strongest person in Konoha and make everyone acknowledge the weakest people.

Of course, she knew becoming Hokage was a difficult goal. She wasn't even totally convinced that she'd be able to achieve it, but she knew trying would be that much better than giving up. On the way to achieving her dream, she'd meet people, and maybe be able to convince them she was right - that the weak could become strong.

The first step towards her ambition was, of course, to become a ninja of Konoha - a Genin. Before that, though, she needed to be an Academy Student. Thus, her thoughts were all but a flurry on the topic.

Would her sensei like her? Would she make friends? Would she learn a lot? Would she have a hard time with the lessons?

A lot of people in the village didn't like Naruto, for some reason. The closest she had ever come to figuring out the reason was her father telling her it was 'something related to events that happened before and during her birth', and he had been drunk at the time. What if her sensei was one of those people?

'A lot of people' also happened to include most of the children her age. A lot of the kids liked to make fun of her, not to mention keep her from playing with them. Shino-nii was always there for her, though, and told her they weren't worth playing with if they couldn't be friendly, and she was grateful that he would be with her in class. She was hoping to make some new friends, though.

She had been taught a great number of things by her parents and some of the other members of the clan, but she wanted to learn more. Specifically, she wanted to learn some cool ninjutsu! Most of the Aburame jutsu was concentrated on utilizing kikaichu, which was useless to Naruto. Thankfully, there was about a handful of other techniques in the Clan Archive.

One of these was the Fūton: Daitoppa, which was used by some Aburame shinobi in defense of most Katon jutsu. The technique was used to push the fire back towards the user, while simultaneously making the fire more powerful with the wind. Most Katon users could create big fireballs, but few could control it once it had left their chakra systems. It was important for the insect users to have something to use against its greatest weakness, fire. Aburame Shibi, Naruto's Dad, was beginning to teach her this technique.

Naruto was pretty good with learning things about chakra and jutsu. She had had a difficult time with chakra control near the beginning, but she was undergoing intensive control-training in the form of running up and down trees with leaves stuck to her forehead.

No, it was with history and lectures and maths and _flower arranging_ that Naruto was worried about. Mom had told her all about the lessons she would be having, and they sounded really boring. When she told her mother that, her Mom had replied to treat the thing as an infiltration mission.

Naruto _loved_ infiltration.

Well, Naruto loved pranks. Infiltration was part of pranking, though. She loved playing tricks on people who had been mean to her, like the weapons shop owner who had sold her defective kunai at a premium - she had only found out they were bad when her Dad had volunteered to help her with her throwing practice.

She had snuck into the man's store, with Shino's help, and written over his accounting book. Thanks to her, pages that had been filled with neatly-written sales and expenditures were now covered with doodles of ninja and rainbows. Then, she had paid a kid a couple of years younger than her some ryo to run into the store while she and Shino were leaving and shout, 'Ninja Attack: Rainbow Power!'.

So infiltration was pretty much natural to her. With her newly-assigned 'mission' in mind, she bought a notebook that she intended to fill up with information on her new classmates. After all, infiltration was about spying, and taking intelligence for the benefit of others. She had spoken to Hokage-jiji about it, and he had told her that he would be grateful for her information when it would be time for putting together the genin teams. He had even said she could have her brother as back-up!

Naruto tightened the elastic band around her ponytail, before nodding to her reflection in the mirror determinedly.

"Let's do this, 'ttebane!"


	3. Chapter Two: Lessons Begin

**The Art of Kunoichi**

**Summary:** Falling in love with guys isn't the only thing Female!Naruto can do. She's learning the fine art of being a kunoichi.

**/ Chapter Two /**

"I am Umino Iruka. This is my assistant, Mizuki. We will both be your sensei for your time at the Ninja Academy. You will have other classes, separate for boys and girls, as well as an elective in your third year - however, we will be your main teachers in the basics and theory of being a ninja of Konoha. I want all of you to stand up and introduce yourself to the rest of the class. You, over there, begin."

Naruto yawned; did all teachers have Boring Voices, or just this one? She watched some of her classmates introduce themselves. It seemed she had an interesting class... She would have fun finding things out about them, anyway.

Most of the people in her class were civilian children who would probably not become ninja - at least, not field ninja. Many of those who failed to be taken on by a Jonin sensei in a team after three tries were usually accepted at Administration; if they were lucky, they might find someone from Intelligence or one of the other Departments of Konoha.

"Ow!" A sharp elbow nudged her out of her thoughts. Shino - owner of aforementioned elbow - just sat there calmly, adjusting his sunglasses, and muttered that it was her turn.

"Oh," Naruto grinned sheepishly, standing up and scratching the back of her head with her hand in a show of embarrassment. "Hi, I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I like the color orange and ramen! My dream is to one day become Hokage!" She beamed at her classmates before sitting down.

Shino stood up next. "I am Aburame Shino. I enjoy training, and developing my kikaichu. I dream to be a great ninja, like my father."

Boring Voice nodded, and clapped his hands together. "Okay, it's nice to meet you all! Please take out your books on Konoha History. We're going to discuss how this village was founded, and our great leaders, the Hokage..."

Iruka-sensei's class passed pretty slowly, Naruto thought. Then again, it could be just because she hadn't been taking notes or paying attention to the lecture; most of the discussion was about the Hokage's inauguration speeches, or their beliefs, or the dreams they had had for Konoha. Naruto reasoned that she didn't really need to know any of that to surpass them, so she didn't pay attention and let herself drift off.

The class was released to have a short break afterwards, during which they could eat, play, or train, as long as they didn't leave the Academy grounds.

"Ne, Shino, we should go make some new friends! Look, there are some kids over there -"

"No, Naruto, I told you -"

"Hello," a bored-sounding voice said. "I'm Nara Shikamaru, this is Akimichi Chouji."

The pair turned around to meet, well, another pair - a boy with spiky black hair that stood up in a ponytail, and a larger boy with short brown hair that stood up, too, but without the need for a hairtie.

Naruto grinned at them and waved. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto! This is my brother Aburame Shino! It's a pleasure to meet you!" She gestured to Shino as she said his name. "So, you guys want to be friends?"

The bigger boy - Chouji, his name, right - smiled back, a bit shyly. "Yeah... That's why we came over here. You guys looked the most approachable..." The other one, Shikamaki? No, Shikamaru! sighed, "Troublesome... It would have been more trouble for us if we'd tried to talk to someone else, though."

Shikamaru and Chouji sat down with Naruto and Shino, and the four of them spent the rest of the break talking about school ("My dad told me about his teacher, his name was Morino Ibiki - ") and sharing some of Chouji's chips ("Whoa! Where did you pull those out from...?")

When the bell signaling the start of the next class had finally rung, and Naruto and the others had made their way to Classroom 301, they saw two ninja who looked like teachers - they had the same Chuunin vest Iruka-sensei had worn, at least - standing in front of the door. One was a strict-looking man with brown hair mostly hidden by a bandana, and a short goatee. Beside him was a woman with long black hair, and white eyes.

"Boys, come with me," the man called. "We'll be going outside to talk, in the Academy Training Ground. Girls, you'll be with Sorako-sensei here, in Classroom 404. Please listen – I mean, pay attention to your sensei."

The boys - really, why were all of the people Naruto knew boys - left with the man, and the woman smiled at them. She began walking towards the staircase, one different from the one the boys had used, and motioned for them to follow her, which they did.

When they got there, Sorako-sensei, as the other teacher had called her, opened the door and ushered them inside. Naruto took a seat near the middle of the room, looking around her class...

Most of them looked friendly enough, though not many looked like Naruto would like them. A couple of girls walking near where she was sitting, a pink-haired girl and a blonde one, were giggling loudly, squealing about some guy named 'Sasuke-kun'. Another girl was laughing with her friends, pointing at the blonde and her friend, looking mean. Naruto sighed, and began to glance around 404...

Her eyes landed on the blackboard. Unlike Iruka-sensei's, this one was already full of words.

_I am Hyuuga Sorako, your sensei for Kunoichi training. One thing you must know about me is that I am mute; I cannot speak. For better communication between us, I hope you will learn the Ninja Signs we use to communicate sound; if you do not trouble to learn it, I will still try my best to let you understand me through writing. _

_We will be learning what makes a Kunoichi who she is. We will learn her weaknesses and her strengths; how her weaknesses may be used as strengths, and how her strengths may be used as weaknesses._ _We will learn how to use people's conception of kunoichi, of women, as useless to our own advantage, through Genjutsu, Infiltration, and Espionage. _

_I am your sensei, Sorako. I hope we can both learn a lot from each other._

The woman - Sorako-sensei - finally entered the room after the last girl, closing the door gently. She smiled at us, and opened her mouth - "I am your sensei for Kunoichi training, Hyuuga Sorako. I hope to get to know each of you, and help you because you are my students. Let's take care of each other."

**AN:** Yes, I know, it's been a while… A _long _while and I'm sorry. Life's been hectic, you know? Anyway, please leave a review and let me know what you think of this chapter!


	4. Chapter Three: Sensei Told Us To Lie!

The Art of Kunoichi

Summary: Falling in love with guys isn't the only thing Female!Naruto can do. She's learning the fine art of being a kunoichi.

/ Chapter Three /

There was a collective yell as all the shocked children reacted.

"You said you were mute, sensei!"  
>"Sensei is a liar!"<br>"Wahhhh! She can talk!"

Naruto, meanwhile, was thinking. '_She wrote that she couldn't talk… And there's something weird about when she said that, like it was… fuzzy-sounding?' _

Taking a wild guess that she felt instinctively was true, and worked up and excited by all the shouting and talking, Naruto jumped up and down, with her finger pointing accusingly at her sensei.

"GENJUTSU!"

Anyone would think that a teacher would be mad that one of their new students was pointing and shouting at them on the first day, but Sorako-sensei just nodded and clapped her hands, smiling all the while. She pointed at the girls, then motioned towards the seats.

"A-ah, we should sit down," a shy girl spoke up.

The young kunoichi-in-training settled into the desks – Naruto made sure to get one in the middle, so she could pay attention to Sorako-sensei if she was as interesting as she seemed, and take a nap if she was proven wrong and their new sensei was boring, even without a Boring Voice (or any kind of voice at all).

Their teacher turned her attention to the board then, and wrote incredibly quickly, much faster than Iruka-sensei had, with her long dark hair swishing back and forth as she moved from one end of the board to the other.

_Yes, that was a genjutsu. Unfortunately, it takes up too much chakra, or energy, for me to use it for a long time to communicate with you all. You see how some of you were confused just now, and how some of you were angry? I apologize for the trick. I wanted to show you girls the power and surprise that things like illusions, information, and misdirection can have for Kunoichi. Now as an exercise, please pair up and lie to each other for 5 minutes. When I ring the bell, tell each other the truth and learn about your new classmates – remember that we are all comrades, and any lies or tricks here are just for training and practice._

Naruto turned to the girl in the seat beside her and saw the same shy dark-haired girl from earlier.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto! Want to be partners, 'ttebane?"

The girl blushed a bit and poked her fingers together before replying. "I'm H-Hyuuga Hinata! I'd be happy to be your partner!"

Naruto grinned. She was a bit shy, but it was cute, and it was nothing she couldn't fix after awhile, for sure! "Alright, Hinata-chan! I'm actually blood-related to the Aburame, _and _I have kikaichu too, they're just hidden in my long hair!"

Hinata gasped and eyed Naruto's hair. "R-really?"

"No, Hinata-chan, we're lying, remember?"

"Ah, r-right! Then… I secretly came up with a special clan jutsu that lets me read minds."

"Haha, no way! I can run around Konoha five hundred times, and on just my hands!"

Elsewhere in Konoha, the Green Beast Maito Gai let out a sneeze in the middle of his training.

"Springtime is full of allergies as well as youth! Yosh, I must not let my health suffer from the youthful blossoms!"

Passersby were treated to the view of the fully-grown man, dressed in a tight green spandex suit, running as fast as he could to the Hospital, while trying to remember if it was youthful to run fast with a cold or not.

Of course, with his speed, there was pretty much nothing to see but a green blur, so we'll cut the intermission and just go back to the story. 

Hinata and Naruto traded lies until Sorako-sensei rang a bell, signifying Truth Time.

"Okay, me first?" Naruto asked. Hinata nodded, so she went on.

"The Aburame took me in, but they aren't my family in blood. They are in pretty much every other way, though, 'ttebane! Anyway, I don't have kikaichu, but it sounds cool and I'd like to have them. And I really _can _run around Konoha, but not that many times, and just by running the regular way. I'm not really the Hokage, but I will be someday, believe it! And _then _I'll have the hat and the outfit and the Ramen Festival I told you about, and all the other cool stuff I told you about are my plans for once I'm Hokage! Just wait, Hinata-chan!"

Hinata giggled and blushed. "I believe in you, Naruto-ch-chan!" It had been hard for Narutop to convince her to address her more casually, but Naruto didn't really like formalities. At all. Hinata was stuttering less often, anyway, so something must have been working.

"I don't have a move to read minds, but I want to make one s-someday. That is one of my w-wishes. And I have an older cousin and a younger sister, not the other way around. Um, I also haven't activated my bloodline, the Byakugan, yet. I hope to soon, though. I've been training with my Father to try and activate it."

The bell rang again just then, as if Sorako-sensei had just been waiting for Hinata to finish speaking. Sure enough, their sensei gave Naruto's partner and newly-found friend a wink before gesturing at the blackboard, where a new message had been written while the students had been busy talking.

_Practicing to lie is an important part of being shinobi. It is better, in most cases, to give enemies wrong information than to give no information at all. This is especially true for situations where the enemy is stronger than you. If you can trick your opponents into fighting themselves, then you will not need to fight them yourself. The quickest, the easiest, and the least risky path is almost always the best path to take for anyone, but especially for ninja, where any situation can lead to danger, and even more especially for kunoichi._

_Kunoichi face the misconception that females, even female ninja, are weaker than men or male ninja. This is just another lie, one that we can use against those who underestimate us. Men are more lenient and complacent when they're against women, especially chivalrous and kind-hearted men. _

_It is not always a bad thing to have others underestimate you. You can surprise them later on, when they least expect it. The element of surprise, brought about by use of misinformation and misdirection, can turn the tides of battles and even wars, and can save your life._

_Of course, nobody can lie all the time, to everyone. You told your partners the truth today because you must be able to trust your comrades and your friends. Just imagine how hiding your true skills could leave you unable to be promoted to the level you should be at! You need to learn the values of cooperation and teamwork, which make every technique more powerful, including telling lies. _

**AN:** Damn, it's been awhile. Sorry about that. I promise this story won't be abandoned, and it will be finished eventually. Even if it takes forever damnit, this story will be finished. So no worries there. Please write a review on what you think about this!


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